By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
Many of our Catholic people today are very insecure in their faith and thus needlessly fearful because they are without the experience of the presence of God in an abiding way. Whether because of Islamic terrorism which is committing genocide against Eastern Christians or attacks through a newly re-paganized society and our unjust and anti-Christian laws in the West, many Christians are experiencing great uncertainty.
But without a serene sense of the firmness of the faith as a source of solace and strength, Catholics can feel tossed on stormy seas rather than seated firmly within the barque of Peter and securely set on course for eternal life.
With my recent guests at our parish in southern Maryland — a newly ordained priest and a seminarian from New York together with two young men who hope to enter the seminary soon — I made a spiritual visit to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. One member of our group suggested the prayer of the rosary together while at the basilica.
To accompany the prayer we made our rounds walking through and pausing at some of the various chapels dedicated to our Lady within the great upper church. Along our way we encountered some lay persons seated in prayer. They rose and joined us as we continued our walk. We ended our prayers at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel together with our spontaneous group and they thanked us as we parted ways.
Our spiritual procession through the beautifully decorated chapels dedicated to the Queen of Ireland, Our Lady of Pompeii, Czestochowa, Guadalupe, the Miraculous Medal, and others had led us to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament, as we ended with the joyful mystery which recollects the event recounted in Scripture when Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the Temple after searching for Him.
Our experience was emblematic of the journey we must make today: The lay faithful already gathered in the chapels through which we passed responded to our leadership in prayer as priests and men called to priesthood and they rose and gladly joined us as we walked and prayed.
Is this not true of the Church today as it has always been? Our good people want to pray and seek the leadership of the men appointed by the Lord for that purpose. They will follow us if we lead them securely to the Lord. The prayer of the rosary always takes place under our Lady’s guidance, she who also walks and meditates upon the words and works of Incarnate God with us, He who always comes to us through her faithful discipleship.
This illustrates how we must walk together with our people today: We will securely encounter Christ the Lord in our walk of faith now and forever if we are led by those who do so with Mary as their model. Christ is found with those who magnify Him together with the one who always does so best: Mary, our Mother and teacher.
With my guests I also visited Arlington National Cemetery where we also experienced the civil “liturgy” of the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery. The noble task of honoring all of our military dead is a patriotic duty necessary for the love and loyalty due to our nation.
The soldiers on guard in uniform, no matter the extremes of the weather either hot or cold, faithfully make their rounds, standing as they do in the place of their fellow citizens to ensure that the honored dead are never left alone and without appropriate tribute.
This can teach us about the duty we owe also to God. How much more should we honor the God who gave us these heroes, strengthening them and us in the fight to defend the Creator’s gift of freedom? As our nation gladly honors its civil traditions, how much more should we honor our religious tradition of the true faith, handed down by the work of God Himself through the Holy Spirit?
My visit with the newly ordained priest and his companions was an edifying experience. Their joyful journey of faith, so Marian in spirit as they pray the rosary together with the official prayers of the Church in the Mass and the Breviarium Romanum, is a traditional one.
The priest has dedicated his vocation to enabling Catholics who so wish to return to a full practice of the way in which our faith was handed down for hundreds of years in organic development from Christ through the apostles.
One of his first experiences was to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite at the Sacra Liturgia conference in New York with Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone presiding. He continues in his present assignment in the Archdiocese of New York to joyfully introduce many Catholics to an integral experience of the faith. Many are responding with eager interest and we pray that he continue to bear fruit in his priestly apostolate as he also supports a parish-based program for encouraging priestly vocations.
The traditional apostolate to reintroduce the fullness of the faith must take place within our existing parishes by our parish priests. Those who rightly revere and embrace our Catholic tradition can no longer settle for second-class citizenship. No longer should compromise resemble condescension in which the full Catholic tradition is relegated to a position outside of the mainstream parish experience with the status of a museum piece, or a mere curiosity from the past which is no longer relevant.
Just as my priest friend from New York is engaged in doing, the traditions must become rooted in our parishes once again, without creating new ones, rather than merely tolerated for the purpose of entertaining them as the interests of a few overly curious history scholars or “historical re-enactors” who cling to the past as a mere hobby.
In the experience I shared above, our lay companions in prayer at the National Shrine responded to our role as ones who offered themselves as leaders in the prayer of the rosary. This prayer is a fruit of tradition just like that of the Mass and a real experience of the journey of faith for each day and for all of us.
In the Church it is our tradition which must provide the context for the journey so that every member of the faithful may have the certainty of knowing the serene peace and goodness of living contact with our loving and saving, God now and forever.
Thank you for reading and praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
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(Follow me on Facebook at Reverendo Padre-Kevin Michael Cusick and on Twitter @MCITLFrAphorism. I blog occasionally at mcitl.blogspot.com and APriestLife.blogspot.com. You can email me at mcitl.blogspot.com@gmail.com.)
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